Rabbi Elliot L. Stevens Kol Ami Religious School
Our mission at Kol Ami is to strengthen our children’s faith in God, their love of Torah and their identification with the Jewish people. We hope to inspire a strong sense of Jewish community and enrich their observance of Jewish practices, education and values.
In May 2008 the Temple’s Board voted unanimously to approve a merger of the Temple Religion School with the school of Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem (the nearby Conservative synagogue in Montgomery). Both congregations are fully committed to maintaining their own ideological identities and separate affiliations with our respective movements. The combination clearly fosters a better learning environment with larger classes based on students’ demographics.
The combined school uses the non-denominational curriculum prepared by the Goldring Woldenberg Institute for Southern Jewish Life, with the same texts, none of which are published specifically for Reform or Conservative Judaism. This is the same curriculum our Temple School used before the merger.
This is a spiraled curriculum, in which students revisit key content areas with increased sophistication as they progress through the curriculum. The ten key content areas: Community, Culture and Symbols, God, Hebrew and Prayer, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Life-cycle Events, Mitzvot and Jewish Values, and Tanach (Torah, Prophets and Writings). The curriculum is developmentally appropriate, nurturing students’ Jewish identity, equipping students to live rich and meaningful lives. There are a variety of activities in each lesson that implement the idea that students have different learning styles. Visual, auditory and kinesthetic learnings activities are used throughout each lesson.
Welcome to Kol Ami Religious School in Montgomery, Alabama! Our school serves the combined communities of Temple Beth Or and Agudath Israel Etz Ahayem. Whether you were born into our historic Jewish community, are a recent transplant, or are joining us from Maxwell Air Force Base, you are most welcome here. Our students’ ages range from incoming three-year-olds to graduating confirmation students. The curriculum is not any particular denomination…not orthodox, conservative, or reform, but meant to cover those areas we can all pretty much agree on. In addition to learning, it is so important for our students to socialize together in a fun and warm Jewish environment. Our team here at Kol Ami is dedicated to our students and seeks to model and inspire meaningful, joyful, and engaged Jewish living.
|
To read our Religious School Handbook online, click here. It is a PDF document that requires Adobe Reader to open and read online. If you don’t have this program, you may download a free version of Adobe Reader here.
If you would prefer a paper copy of the handbook, please contact Gina Friday.